If the International Criminal Court fails to open an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in Palestine the UN court may collapse, warns John Dugard, former special rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council concerning Palestinian affairs.

Palestinian officials have presented evidence of alleged Israeli
atrocities committed during last year's war in Gaza to the
International Criminal Court. This follows the publication of a
damning UN report on the conflict. Israel denies all the
allegations of war crimes against its soldiers.

RT:Is the Palestinian submission and the UN
findings enough for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to
open a full investigation?

John Dugard: Certainly there is enough
information. The Palestinian Authority has provided much
information today, but in addition of course, one must have
regard to the Human Rights Council recent fact-finding report.
And then there is also the publication of a document by Israeli
soldiers, called “Breaking the Silence,” in which they described
the manner in which the Gaza War was conducted. There is also the
report prepared by the UN Secretary General in respect to attacks
on UN premises. So in my view, there is clearly sufficient
evidence to enable the prosecutor to open an investigation into
war crimes committed in Palestine both in respect of the Gaza War
and the construction of settlements.

RT:The Palestinians risk losing out on $400
million of annual aid from the US which opposes an investigation
of Israel. How much pressure does this prospect put on Gaza?

JD: The US is not a member of the ICC, but that
doesn’t deter it from exercising influence behind the scenes and
there is no doubt that it does bring pressure to bear on member
states, particularly in the EU. And it’s an open secret that some
member states of the EU are not very enthusiastic about
investigating Israel’s crimes. But I think one must bear in mind
that the ICC at this stage faces a real credibility test. You
know that recently there was an attempt to arrest Sudan President
Omar al-Bashir in South Africa and the government allowed
President al-Bashir to leave the country despite a court order
prohibiting him from leaving South Africa. But that has given
rise to a debate in South Africa and in Africa about the question
of whether African states should remain in the ICC. And I have no
doubt that they are looking to the Palestinian issue to see
whether it’s worth their while to remain in the ICC. I think that
if the prosecutor of the ICC fails to open an investigation into
crimes committed in Palestine, then there is a very real danger
that the ICC will fall apart because African states will decide
to leave it.

RT:The UN report also accused Hamas of war
crimes. Do the Palestinians accept these findings?

JD: The Palestinians have been quite clear that
they have accepted membership of the ICC in the understanding
that their own citizens - members of Hamas and other militant
groups - are also exposed to prosecutions. So Palestinians are
quite prepared to see an even-handed prosecution of both Israelis
and Palestinians and I think that speaks well for the
Palestinians in this case.

RT:How will you sum up Israel’s
response?

JD: Israel takes the view that it has the most
moral army in the world, and that of course its soldiers could
not commit war crimes, which of course is disproved by the
fact-finding missions to which I have referred. Israel has set up
its own investigation, but that has simply whitewashed the whole
Israeli involvement in Gaza and it’s quite clear that the
Israelis are determined not to prosecute its own soldiers for
crimes committed in the Gaza war.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.